She believed while this was occurring that a strange odor overcame her bedroom. The press later identified this person as the mad gasser of mattoon. Dispelling the hysteria, maruna points the finger squarely at llewellyn. Purchase the books and other material from this and other episodes at the mysterious world bookstore. Download in 1944, residents in the town of mattoon in illinois came under a prolonged series of attacks by a man the papers named as the mad gasser and the phantom anesthetist. The mad gasser of mattoon history, philosophy, and newspaper. Though the book is short, the author has nonetheless gone through lengthy research and painstaking deduction to come up with a feasible explanation behind one of the most mysterious cases in fortean and cyptozoological studies.
The legend of the mad gasser of mattoon was born but the case has. Cash donations will be taken and all proceeds will go to the coles county historical society. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that delivers new books every 1, 2, or 3 months new customers receive 15% off your. Possible explanations for the mad gasser of mattoon. Founded less than 100 years previous to the attacks, mattoon has a rich railroad history and has seen many famous civil war icons passing through on their way to shape modern america. In 1944, the mad gasser was blamed for no fewer than 20 attacks in the town of mattoon, illinois. Mad gasser of mattoon the book tells a brief story about a woman, mrs. Its bizarre, reading a book that teeters back and forth between relatively realistic looking people to heavily stylized, more cartoonish characters. Welcome to the quasi official page of the mattoon mad gasser. The attacks were often accompanied by sightings of a tall, dark man, whom many believed to be the perpetrator of the attacks.
Scott maruna, a high school chemistry and physics teacher in jacksonville, explains the terror in his book, the mad gasser of mattoon. Over at mysterious universe, theres a new article from me on the strange saga of what became known as the mad gasser of mattoon. Download dark histories the mad gasser of mattoon podbean. Join gasser historian jason shook for a tour of the city to see where the attacks took place and ending at the unmarked grave off the mad gasser. The week we make a huge, very special announcement. The mad gasser of mattoon novel in 2014, said he was interviewed about the. The case of the mad gasser of mattoon illinois times. It began in late august 1944, and attacks continued for several weeks. In 1944, residents in the town of mattoon in illinois came under a prolonged series of attacks by a man the papers named as the mad gasser and the phantom anesthetist. The mad gasser of mattoon was the name given to the person or people believed to be. The mad gasser of mattoon illinois real unexplained. Theres even one book, the mad gasser of mattoon, that argues that there really was a gasser.
After local news broke the story, many other victims in town came forward having similar stories. Kearney, who believed she had been gassed after feeling paralysis in parts of her body. This mad antithesis went by many names but was most famously called the mattoon mad gasser. The mad gasser of mattoon jimmy akins mysterious world in the midst of wwii, the people of mattoon, illinois, were terrorized by a madman using gas to disable his victims. Mad gasser of mattoon news newspapers books scholar jstor june 2017 learn how and when to remove this template. In 1944, a bizarre criminal assaulted the small town of mattoon, illinois. Its a story that dates back to the 1940s and which concerns a darkclothed character who invaded homes in the dead of night and unleashed a paralyzing gas in the city of mattoon, illinois, usa. Tags mad gasser mattoon men in black nick redfern works full time as a writer, lecturer, and journalist.
Other newspapers quickly picked up the story, and soon the entire country was reading about mattoons rumored mad gasser. The first of the 1944 gasser incidents occurred at a house on grant ave. The mad gasser of mattoon history, philosophy, and. I have done, seen, and heard of some ridiculous things in my time, but nothing compares to the story that im about to relate to you. The mad gasser of mattoon was never caught, his victims never. In september of 1944, the town of mattoon, illinois was paralyzed with fear as dozens of residents reported someone spraying a sickeningly sweet gas through their bedroom windows that was terrifyingly causing partial paralysis in the victims. First published in 2003 the mad gasser of mattoon open library. In september of 1944, the town of mattoon, illinois was pa. Marunas mad gasser of mattoon is a thoughtprovoking read. The mad gasser of mattoon in 1944, a strange night prowler is believed to have made poison gas attacks in illinois. Open library is an open, editable library catalog, building towards a web page for every book ever published. A wwiiera midwestern mystery, the mad gasser of mattoon held a small town in a gaseous grip of fear for 2 weeks with no explanation and few suspects. Despite the witness accounts that claimed to see a man stalking around the victims houses on multiple occasions, the authorities. The story of the phantom anesthetist or, more popularly, the mad gasser of mattoon.
Urban raef was awakened during the early hours of the morning by a strange odor. Former mattoon resident jason lee brown, who wrote a prowler. Former mattoon resident writes book about mad gasser. The mad gasser vanished after 10 days, leaving residents to wonder whether he had ever existed at all. The mad gasser of mattoon the dark histories podcast. Small towns across the country have their share of odd stories and urban legends, and mattoon illinois is no exception. The mattoon mad gasser looking back at a textbook case of. At the very least, there are some details in the book that suggest what the mood of the place was like when these events occurredincluding growing impatience and frustration with the restrictions associated with the war effort.
After this night, the mad gasser of mattoon was never seen or heard from again. And we also have a wild report about a phenomenon that swept a small illinois town in the 1940s. Illinois times has provided readers with independent journalism for more than 40 years, from news and politics to arts and culture. Jimmy akin and dom bettinelli examine this 75yearold unsolved mystery and the theories about it, and then offer up a dramatic twist to the story you may not expect. The mad gasser, a serial killer who hears the encouraging voice of his mentor through a soviet era gas mask. An internet search of the mad gasser of mattoon brings up several paranormal magazine articles and blogs, with some trying to link the mattoon case to an earlier episode of another mad gasser in rural virginia about 10 years prior. This time, some victims werent merely sickened, they were actually paralyzed. Located in the central part of the p rairie state, mattoon is bordered by a sea of corn on the north and timberlands to the south. By site contributor frank statler the anesthetic prowler, the mad gasser of roanoke, or simply the mad gasser, was the nickname of the person or persons responsible for a series of attacks in matton, il and botetourt county, va in the 1930s and. The mad gasser might have vanished into the annals of history unnoticed if not for a second spate of attacks a decade later. The mad gasser of mattoon ultimately generated three main theories. The mad gasser of mattoon jimmy akins mysterious world. Outbreak the encyclopedia of extraordinary social behavior 2009 anomolist. Did mattoon have a mad scientist or a mad population.
Despite the witness accounts that claimed to see a man stalking around the victims houses on multiple occasions, the. Other theories of the mad gasser of mattoon range from the somewhat understandable, in the case of there actually being a gasser on the loose, to the downright absurd, including multidimensional apelike beings attacking residents with spray guns. The mad gasser of mattoon is supposed to have been a person, or possibly persons believed to be responsible for over two dozen gas attacks that occurred in mattoon, illinois, during the mid1940s over the span of two weeks. Still, as a case study in mass hysteria, the mattoon epidemic is a useful example in how quickly fear can arise and how easy it is to spin out of control. Thats countered by the argument that there were copycats. Though the book is short, the author has nonetheless gone through lengthy research and. Hes got a style thats totally his own, with a range that covers pretty much any style of work you can think of. Wwii era mattoon, illinois, is descending in madness. Shut the windows and change your mask filters, the mad gasser of mattoon is prowling the podcast. Mattoon mad gasser incidents began 75 years ago this. Maruna itself is a science teacher who wrote a book called the mad gasser of mattoon. No names were ever given to the public, but in his book the mad gasser of mattoon. Mattoon the mad gasser incidents in 1944 have become a local legend in mattoon, a case study in possible mass hysteria for psychologists, and even the subject of a. In the midst of wwii, the people of mattoon, illinois, were terrorized by a madman using gas to disable his victims.
To this day, the identity of the mad gasser remains a mystery, as does the reason why he chose to wreak havoc in mattoon. According to maruna, these events can not be regarded as mass hysteria because of the many reports of gas odor coming from the windows and the human figure that was running in the dark. A file in the mattoon public librarys local history center contains newspaper clippings and books about the mad gasser incidents that occurred from late august to midseptember 1944 in mattoon. Given the amount of bloodshed that was unfolding around the world, it is easy to miss the newspapers coverage of one particularly strange event, one that would come to be called the mad gasser of mattoon. In 1944, the small town of mattoon, illinois was terrorized by a creepy blackclad prowler who sprayed anesthetic gas in his victims faces. Regarding the latter, the police chief would say that all of the gas attacks were caused by chemicals carried by the wind from nearby industrial plants, that there was no mad gasser at all. He writes about a wide range of unsolved mysteries, including bigfoot, ufos, the loch ness monster, alien encounters, and government conspiracies. Prowler, the mad gasser of mattoon by jason lee brown goodreads. Victims reported smelling a strange odor in their bedrooms before being overcome with nausea and paralysis. The mad gasser of mattoon also known as the anesthetic prowler, the phantom anesthetist, or simply the mad gasser was the name given to the person or people believed to be responsible for a series of apparent gas attacks that occurred in mattoon, illinois, during the mid1940s. Dispelling the hysteria, author scott maruna suggests a local man by the name of farley llewellyn as the primary suspect, though frankly his theory is so abysmal and full of conjecture and cliche profiling that to waste my breath on it anymore than this would be a disservice to you listening at home. The tale of the mattoon mad gasser, one of the first scientifically documented mass hysteria cases in u. The mad gasser of mattoon is an interesting, easy read that presents compelling arguments for farley as the mad gasser. For the past 10 years or so i potraied the famous assailant at the former ashmore estates haunted attraction, wrote a series of mini stories about a new mad gasser and was going to make a film turning him into a anti hero.